At long last, Wonder Woman?

Maybe. Variety is reporting that three actresses have been tapped to screen test for a role in Zack Snyder’s Batman vs. Superman, which is being billed as a Man of Steel sequel but feels very much like a pre-cursor to a Justice League movie. The three actresses are Olga Kurylenko, the Fast & Furious’ Gal Gadot, and GI Joe: Retaliation’s Elodie Yung. They’re all athletic brunettes, which is the casting description for the technically unnamed character (also, “exotic”). Everyone is assuming this must be the long-awaited cinematic arrival of Wonder Woman but I’m not sold.

Batman vs. Superman is shrouded in secrecy because everything about movies has to be a goddamn conspiracy these days, but it is worth noting no one from DC/Warner Brothers has actually confirmed they’re looking for a Wonder Woman. They haven’t denied it, either, but this is still just assumption. They’re casting an athletic actress—must be Wonder Woman. It’s even written into Variety’s report: “Sources stress there’s a possibility this role could be Bruce Wayne’s love interest, but the casting description also matches that of Wonder Woman.” So basically you’re telling me that 1) there are people sourcing your story that don’t even really know what’s going on and 2) you’re assuming something based on coincidence. Cool story, bro.

DC/WB wants to make a Justice League movie, and to do so, they will need to introduce Wonder Woman at some point. Is the Man of Steel sequel the best place for that? I don’t know. This movie is going to have plenty to do already, answering some of the big questions left over from MoS and also introducing a new iteration of Batman, one that is a bit older and semi-retired when Superman made himself known in the events of MoS. Throwing Wonder Woman into the mix, when there is such enormous pressure to get the character right, seems like asking a lot out of the movie. But then, their current plan is to put out Batman vs. Superman in 2015 and, tentatively, Justice League in 2017. That doesn’t leave much time to do a proper Wonder Woman film beforehand.

On one hand you have a physical description that matches Wonder Woman and a need to get her character into your movie universe. On the other hand, that exact same physical description also fits Talia Al-Ghul (last seen in the form of Marion Cotillard) and Selina Kyle (Catwoman), both of whom are also love interests of Bruce Wayne. So it’s either Wonder Woman, or someone else, and no one really knows because this is lunch break gossip from the Warner Brothers’ commissary. The only thing I do know is that of the three names on that list, Olga Kurylenko is the only one I’m interested in, for anything.